by Bronwyn Sell
When neither brother answered, Amy pointed at Sophia’s glass of water. ‘The bar’s not going to turn much of a profit tonight. Let me guess, you had a strange day too? Harry and I were just swapping notes on our wacky days.’
Sophia looked at Harry with a puzzled expression. Those had to be eyelash extensions.
‘Wacky in a good way,’ he said, quickly.
‘Well I had a lovely day,’ Sophia said, still studying Harry. ‘Amazing, in fact.’
‘What did you do?’ Amy said. What was she missing here? ‘I didn’t see you on the snorkelling trip.’ Though I was a touch distracted.
‘No, we went out to a reef, and got stranded.’
‘We?’ Amy said. ‘As in …?’ She looked at Harry, and then Cody.
‘It was just wacky because the engine died and we had to wait at Stingray for a tow—that’s all,’ Harry said, still speaking suspiciously fast.
‘Way longer than they needed to,’ Cody added.
Harry shot Cody another warning look and Sophia found a fingernail that required immediate maintenance. Was that sunburn on her cheeks or had something happened between her and Harry? Amy could swear she was catching a current between them. Her hair might be standing on end if the salt hadn’t concreted it into place. Harry with a guest? That wasn’t his style. Cody, yes, but Harry?
‘How’s the new stepbrother?’ Harry said to Amy, evidently thinking he was veering the conversation onto neutral ground. ‘You guys talked for hours last night.’
Amy automatically glanced at Josh and Carmen chatting away, and got a stab of jealousy, then a stab of guilt—a one-two to her gut. They were about to be brother and sister too. Why shouldn’t they want to get to know each other?
Would he almost-kiss Carmen? Eew.
‘He’s …’ Where did Amy start? ‘He’s good fun.’
‘Good fun is good,’ Harry said, eyeing her with curiosity. ‘We passed him on a bike when we finally got back. He’d done a loop all the way from Fossil Cove almost to Gurrawang Bay. We offered him a lift, but he said he was letting off steam.’
Huh. He was looking pretty relaxed now, pretending to steal Mika’s prawns while she giggled, which alone was the greatest sight in the world, and of course Amy felt The Pull all the way along the table.
‘He doesn’t have much family,’ she said, ‘so I think this is a bit overwhelming for him.’
Cody smirked. ‘You’re saying we should go easy on him?’
‘He’s not used to your levels of camaraderie.’
Harry and Cody chuckled.
‘As long as he’s not a misogynist like Houdini here, he’ll be fine,’ Cody said.
‘And you only know that word because you’ve been called it so often,’ Harry returned.
‘Ping, pong, ping, pong,’ Amy muttered. Sophia smiled but didn’t say anything.
Lena turned to ask Cody a question about his helicopter, and questions about the helicopter never generated a short response. Perfect timing, except that it left Harry, Amy and Sophia sitting in a row, all staring straight ahead like they were at the movies.
‘How’s the boat, Harry?’ Sophia said, leaning forward to better see him.
Harry leaned forward too. ‘Reg is giving her CPR as we speak. Or possibly reading last rites.’
Amy stood. If Harry had finally met a woman he was interested in, she was not going to literally get in his way. ‘I need to go to the ladies’. All that lime and soda.’ And there she went again—just one detail too many.
In the bathroom, she leaned on the tiled wall and stared at the rolled-up hand towels. She could claim to have a headache and go to bed early. It’d be a long week if Josh spent it avoiding her and she spent it lusting after him. She ran a hand down her arm. She’d danced with dozens of guys, but her pores had never before tried to leap out and suck one in.
She stood there as long as she could without Harry sending in a search party—if he even noticed her absence—then sighed and pushed the door open.
Footsteps sounded, outside the men’s toilet further along the corridor.
‘Viggo!’
Amy froze. It was Josh’s voice. She retreated and let the door drift closed, but not fully.
‘Hey, mate,’ he continued, ‘have you said anything to Sanjay about the rooms?’
‘No, I haven’t seen much of him today.’
‘Uh, maybe don’t mention anything?’
What was wrong with their rooms? Their villa had some of the best views in the resort.
‘He thinks I’m hell-bent on screwing the crew,’ Josh said.
Amy’s breath caught.
‘He needs to give you more credit,’ Viggo said. ‘Shall I talk to him?’
‘Nah. No point getting him wound up over nothing.’
Nothing?
‘If that’s what you want, sure,’ Viggo said. ‘But I’m not going to lie to him if he asks me straight out.’
‘Understood.’
A beat of silence.
‘You know,’ Viggo said, ‘Rosa told me that Amy is desperate to find the right guy. A forever guy, whatever that is. She said a fling would not be good for her at the moment.’
Desperate? Cheers, Mum.
Josh grunted. ‘And we all know that’s not going to be me. Amy’s not my type at all—not in that way. Can you tell Rosa not to say anything to Sanjay either?’
Not my type. Yay. Get the hint, Lowery.
Wait—not say anything about what? The almost-kiss? The dancing? But what did that have to do with a room situation? Amy was seconds away from stepping into the corridor and asking for a translation.
‘Rosa will wonder why you don’t want him to know. What should I tell her?’
‘The truth,’ Josh said. ‘That nothing’s going on, but Sanjay has a suspicious mind and I don’t want him getting all stressed out that I’m going to mess things up for him when he should be all chill and happy. He doesn’t need to know.’
‘Sounds like it might be easier all round if we forget the whole thing. Rosa will understand.’
Amy bounced in her shoes. What whole thing—Viggo’s flirtation with her mother? Amy rewound the conversation in her head. Did that fit?
‘Rosa will understand what?’ Josh said. ‘That my dad doesn’t trust me to be around her daughter? Nah, you guys have your fun. And this way I can get to know my new sister better.’
Sister. Ugh. And what did he mean, this way he could get to know her better? And did he mean her or Carmen?
The door to the men’s opened and closed, and footsteps receded in both directions. Amy wasn’t sure who’d entered the bathroom and who’d left, so she gave it a minute before emerging. To suck up time, she ordered another lime and soda. For once, the bar wasn’t tended by anyone sharing her DNA—Carmen had juggled everyone’s shifts to fit around wedding events. Viggo came out from the bathrooms and began talking to a wedding guest. Coast clear.
Amy headed for her former seat but stopped short. There wasn’t one. Sophia was right next to Harry, deep in conversation (yay), and Sanjay, Geoff and Carmen had squeezed in around them. The only available seat was Carmen’s old one—right next to Josh. From her new seat, Carmen looked up at Amy and gave a sneaky red-lipped smile. All yours. Amy narrowed her eyes. So obvious. Carmen shrugged.
‘Aun-y Aims, Aun-y Aims!’ Mika yelled. She’d moved to Rosa’s lap, across the table from Josh. ‘Sit oba dere.’ She pointed—of course—to the seat beside Josh.
Amy met Carmen’s gaze again. You’re dragging your child into this?
Carmen batted her eyelashes. What of it?
Amy tut-tutted, and picked her way through the growing crowd to that intriguing little gap between Josh and assorted Melburnians. So maybe she was secretly pleased at Carmen’s interference, but only because this was in keeping with her ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ strategy. Or was ‘out of sight, out of mind’ a better plan? And what was that conversation with Viggo about?
Amy’s not my type at all.
Amy’s not my type at all.
One way or another, she’d bring Josh down from that pedestal, and then she’d dynamite the whole freaking plinth into marble dust.
17
As Amy approached, Josh caught her eye. For a second, she saw the flash of self-doubt she’d noticed too many times now to second-guess it before he reset his expression to a casual smile. What was that about? So many mysteries. He slid down the bench, leaving the end spot clear for her. The gap was just big enough to leave breathing space between his thigh and hers. She’d had her fair quota of physical contact with him today, even if it was mostly back-to-back. A thigh was nothing special. Though, why did the word ‘thigh’ take on a whole new dimension when you were in lust?
As Amy sat, Rosa leaned forward, squashing Mika against the table. ‘How did the dancing go?’ she yelled across the table. The music had cranked up in Amy’s absence—the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet. Her dad’s choice again, no doubt. Mika screwed up her nose, wriggled down off Rosa’s lap and disappeared under the table.
‘Good,’ Amy and Josh both replied.
Mika’s head popped up next to Amy’s thigh. Amy’s leg. Amy’s quad muscle. Amy’s harem pants. Amy beckoned her and she slithered up onto her lap, leaving Amy feeling like the chosen one. Rosa pushed over the pile of stones she’d been playing with. The presents Amy had brought from Melbourne on this trip alone could fill a small toy store, and yet here Mika was with her stone collection. Kids were nearly as bizarre as adults.
‘That’s all I’m getting?’ Rosa aimed the question at Josh. ‘Good? Did you get the balance right?’
Josh deferred to Amy with a look.
‘We decided to do an over-the-back roll instead,’ she said brightly.
‘What happened to the Dirty Dancing move? Did it not work out?’ Again, Rosa directed the question to Josh, and again he deferred. Poor guy was about to get in trouble with parent number two of the day—not that Rosa was his parent, or ever would be.
‘You know, health and safety,’ Amy said weakly.
‘You know how to do it safely. Didn’t you do it at DanceSport champs in year twelve, with Hamish Chen?’
Yep, and she’d got obsessed with him too, until he’d begged for an introduction to her friend Kayla.
‘If you can do it with a kid who was smaller than you were, you can do it with a … a Josh. And I found a better medley track, so we’re good. You have sixteen bars to fill, so there’s plenty of time. I’ve choreographed it in so it’s the big finale. And the problem with an over-the-back roll is that we’re in the middle of a dance floor with guests all around us, not on a stage at the front of the room, so half of them would see the tops of your heads and the other half would get an eyeful of butts and thighs and crotches.’
‘They’ll see plenty of butts, and worse, if I’m up in the air doing the Dirty Dancing lift with my dress over Josh’s head,’ Amy said.
Rosa laughed. ‘You’ll be wearing full briefs, and it’s a far more elegant lift. Your legs are closed, for starters. Do you think you could have another go at it, please?’
‘Sure,’ Josh said, right as Amy said, ‘No.’ They exchanged a look. His look said why the hell not? Hers said back me up here. If he wanted to be a Lowery sibling, he’d better get used to telepathic communication.
‘It’s not much more challenging than an over-the-back,’ Rosa said, ‘just requires more strength and balance. If Josh is strong enough to pass a firefighting physical or whatever, he’s strong enough to hold you up for a few bars.’
And cue the mental picture of sooty Josh, burning house and baby, except her mind had upgraded it to the full firefighters calendar, he eyeballing the camera with a smouldering gaze, his chest bare and oiled up.
Or would oil be a fire hazard?
Shut up, brain, it’s a fantasy. It’s not flammable oil, okay? And it makes no sense at all that his chest is bare either. Deal with it.
Amy was vaguely aware of a hand moving in front of her eyes. She blinked. The only smouldering was happening in her cheeks.
‘Lost you a minute there, Aims,’ Josh said. Amy didn’t dare look at him.
‘I can always help teach the lift,’ Rosa said.
‘No,’ Amy and Josh chorused. It was awkward enough with just the two of them. Put her mother in the picture, instructing Josh where to put his hands, with her disrespect for personal space, and … ugh.
‘Or I guess I could find time to re-choreograph the whole end of the number.’ Rosa rubbed her forehead like she’d got a stabbing headache.
Amy was about to say ‘yes, please’ when Josh jumped in. ‘Nah, that’s cool, we’ll give it a crack. Right, Aims?’
He and Rosa looked at Amy with pleading faces. Josh would have to learn that not only was it acceptable to say no to unreasonable family requests, but it was sometimes necessary for personal and emotional safety. Was her mother so wrapped up in Viggo that she hadn’t noticed the vibe between Amy and Josh?
Was there a vibe?
Even before the almost-kiss, Amy could have sworn that there were moments today when Josh had felt it too. And why would Sanjay have spent a good hour telling Amy hilarious (not hilarious) stories about Josh’s romantic (not romantic) exploits if he hadn’t picked up on it?
And if Josh felt it too, was it wise for them to act out one of the most romantic moves in dance movie history in front of her entire family and his suspicious dad?
Rosa reached across and took Amy’s hand. ‘Honey,’ she said, lowering her voice, though who she didn’t want overhearing was a mystery, since Josh was right there, ‘I hope this isn’t a weight issue. Not that you have a weight issue, but please don’t let that—’
Amy snatched her hand away. ‘It’s not that.’
‘Hey, it’s fine,’ Josh said. ‘If you don’t want to do it, we’ll think of something else to fill that gap.’ He smiled, again with those vulnerable eyes. He wanted to do it. ‘Something that doesn’t involve flashing butts and—’
Don’t say it.
‘—thighs and crotches,’ he finished, looking straight at Amy, like he knew what it was doing to her.
And of course that would be the moment Nan chose to stick her head between them, clamping one hand on Amy’s shoulder and one on Josh’s.
‘Are we at crotches already?’ she said. Josh slopped beer over the table. ‘We haven’t been introduced,’ she said to Josh sharply, while eyeing Amy like the failure was hers. ‘Everyone in the family calls me Nan, and I hope you’ll consider yourself a part of our family, too, my love.’
‘Uh, thanks,’ Josh said, sounding genuinely pleased.
Nan gave Amy a not-at-all-obvious wink and stood straight, squeezing Amy’s shoulder so she was pretty much leaning on Josh. Amy assumed she was doing the same to Josh but that he was managing to resist. The woman was strong when she wanted to be.
‘Apologies for that, Josh,’ Rosa said, as Nan moved off to her next victim. ‘My mother is auditioning.’
‘For another dance?’ Josh said.
‘She has a bad habit of trying to marry off any single person who dares to step onto this island to her children and grandchildren.’
‘And do I count as a relative, or a prospect?’
‘A relative,’ Amy said quickly. ‘Like she said, you’re part of the family. So if she “accidentally” locks you overnight in a small windowless room with a random single guest …’
Rosa clicked her tongue. ‘True story.’
Josh smiled that almost-childlike gleeful smile and Amy melted. ‘Has she succeeded in matchmaking anyone?’
‘Not yet,’ Rosa said, rolling a straggler of a stone across to Mika. ‘She’s been at it thirty years. She did strike some early success with marrying her three daughters off far too young, but none of the marriages lasted—and neither did her own. Why the woman remains hopeful, I don’t know.’
Josh made a ticking noise in his throat.
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Amy elbowed him. ‘And you think this backs up your opinion about relationships, don’t you, Josh?’
‘What opinion?’ Rosa said.
‘Brother-mine here thinks that no one can know another person well enough to commit to a long-term relationship. He’s sitting here thinking that our family experience backs this up. And I haven’t even told him about great-great-whatever-grandmother Lois yet.’
‘Everything backs it up,’ Josh said. ‘Anecdotal evidence, statistics, personal experience. And yet somehow, you’re still an optimist, like your nan. And who’s Lois?’
Rosa swirled her wine. ‘Luckily for the human race, statistics don’t stop us from trying. And great-whatever-grandmother Lois found true love, just not the first time around. When it comes to love, we’re a family of optimists.’
And maybe that was Amy’s downfall. Simple genetics.
‘If your nan tries to marry me off, she’s met her match—so to speak,’ Josh said. ‘Maybe I could keep her busy scheming for the next fifty years or so. Take the pressure off you all.’
‘So gallant.’ Amy’s voice distorted as Mika pressed hot pudgy palms into her cheeks. She cartoonishly puckered up and leaned in for a kiss, and her niece giggled and dived sideways—with more force than Amy was braced for. Amy lurched to catch the child’s head before it smacked onto the end of the bench. With both arms full, she unbalanced and tipped backward into air. Cold adrenaline flushed through her. Shit. She was going down, spine first, with the kid. So much for not drawing attention to herself.
Then a warm, strong arm caught her around the ribs and pulled them back up. Amy looked up at Josh, reclaiming her breath as he steadied her, his arm slung around her. Hero firefighter: check. Cute child: check. This was all way too cosy. Mika, thinking they’d started a game, lurched again, giggling. Josh’s arm tightened, but Amy managed to rein Mika in and hug her close until she calmed down. She’d got so big since Christmas—and strong. She took after her Aunty Aims in stature.
‘Uh-oh,’ Rosa said.
Amy looked up guiltily, but her mother wasn’t looking at their happy little fake family of three. She was leaning back on her bench and looking along the table, where Nan had inserted her head between Harry and Sophia, her hands on their shoulders, anointing them like she had Amy and Josh.